Psychology 320: Gender Psychology Lecture 30

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Psychology 320 Gender PsychologyLecture 30
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Exam December 15, 330-630, Osborne A

• The exam is worth 20 of your final grade.

• The exam will be scored out of 75 points.

• In addition to questions associated with the
  lecture slides, the exam will include questions
  related to chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the
  textbook.

• The exam will include 30 multiple choice
  questions (1 point each), 5 definitions (2 points
  each), and several short answer questions (2-12
  points each).

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• Please bring a pencil, eraser, pen, and your
  student ID to the exam.
• All electronic devices must be put away before
  the start of the exam.
• All backpacks/bags should be placed at the
  front, back, or sides of the examination room.
• Hats (e.g., baseball caps) should not be worn
  during the exam.

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Office Hours

• Prior to the exam, I will have additional
  office hours. If you require assistance, please
  feel free to see me at any of the following
  times

Monday, December 7, 1200-130. Thursday,
December 10, 900-1030. Friday, December 11,
230-430.
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Emotion
1. Are there sex differences in emotional
expression?
2. What is restrictive emotionality?
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Are there sex differences in emotional expression?

• A substantial body of research has demonstrated
  sex differences in emotional expression.

• Among the research findings that have
  demonstrated sex differences in emotional
  expression are the following

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• Preschool children show no sex differences in
  emotional expression however, consistent
  differences in emotional expression emerge by age
  six, with girls displaying more emotion than
  boys. These differences have been attributed to
  parents greater expression of emotion with
  daughters than sons (Adams et al., 1995).

• Adolescent boys are more likely than adolescent
  girls to deny having ever had an emotional
  experience (Stapely Haviland, 1989).

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• Female undergraduates rate themselves higher on
  spontaneous emotional expression, whereas male
  undergraduates rate themselves higher on
  emotional control (Guerrero Reiter, 1998).

• Among non-student samples, adult women indicate
  that they engage in more emotionally expressive
  behaviour than adult men (Simon and Nath, 2004).

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• Women and men are able to identify the emotions
  of females more readily than the emotions of
  males (LaFrance Banaji, 1992).

• Physiological measures reveal greater facial
  reactivity (vs. autonomic reactivity) among
  females than males when experiencing similar
  emotions (Kring Gordon, 1998 Thunberg
  Dimberg, 2000).

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Mean Corrugator Supercilii Responses, Skin
Conductance Responses and Unpleasantness Ratings
for Fear-Relevant Stimuli for Females and Males
(Thunberg Dimberg, 2000)
Females Males
Corrugator Response .305 .155
Skin Conductance Response .146 .146
Unpleasantness Rating (0-9) 4.458 4.360
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• Theorists maintain that sex differences in
  emotional expression are the result of socially
  and culturally constructed display rules Norms
  regarding the expected management of facial
  appearance (Ekman, 1973).

• Seven display rules have been identified
  Amplification, unmodified expression,
  qualification, deamplification, masking,
  neutralization, and simulation.

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• Display rules encourage the expression of most
  emotions by females and discourage the
  expression of most emotions by males (e.g.,
  Safdar et al., 2009).

Exceptions Anger, contempt, pride.
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• Research indicates that gender is a better
  predictor of emotional expression than sex

Kring and Gordon (1998)

• Asked participants to complete the BSRI.

• Examined participants emotional expression in
  response to film clips designed to evoke distinct
  emotional experiences.

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Frequency
Frequency of Expressions by Sex (Kring and
Gordon, 1998)
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Frequency
Frequency of Expressions by Gender Role
Classification (Kring and Gordon, 1998)
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What is restrictive emotionality?

• Refers to the limited emotional expression
  associated with the male gender role.

• Restrictive emotionality is fostered among
  males through observation of male role models,
  interpersonal familial dynamics, and social
  rewards and punishments.

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• Consider your reaction to the following
  conversation between Mike and Jim

Mike, Ive been so upset since we had that
argument, I could hardly sleep last night. Are
you sure youre really not mad at me? Jim, Im so
relieved . I was just as afraid that youd be
mad at me!
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• Restrictive emotionality has been associated
  with a number of adverse consequences

• anxiety.

• depression.

• relationship difficulties.

• homophobia.

• physiological distress.

• alexithymia.

• use of immature and neurotic ego defenses.

• anger.

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• With respect to defense mechanisms, Mahalik et
  al. (1998) investigated the relationship between
  restrictive emotionality and the use of mature
  vs. immature defense mechanisms among males.

Examples of mature defense mechanisms
Sublimation, humour, anticipation, suppression.
Examples of immature defense mechanisms
Isolation, autistic fantasy, denial,
displacement, somatization.
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Found that males who were high in restrictive
emotionality were more likely than males who were
low in restrictive emotionality to use immature
defense mechanisms.
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• With respect to anger, Long (1987) has
  described anger as the male emotional funnel
  system.

Cohn, Seibert, and Zeichner (2009) investigated
the relationship between restrictive emotionality
and physical aggression among males.
Found that males who were high in restrictive
emotionality were more likely than males who were
low in restrictive emotionality to administer
high-intensity shocks to an opponent.
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Emotion
1. Are there sex differences in emotional
expression?
2. What is restrictive emotionality?